Manawar: Cooperative society accused of playing fraud on farmers for 10 years

Manawar (Madhya Pradesh): Scores of farmers from Manawar and its adjoining places levelled serious accusations of fraud and embezzlement on Adim Jati Service Cooperative Limited, Ajanda village.

Farmers claimed that responsible officials here defrauded the farmers in the name of a loan scheme for the past 10 to 12 years. The accused have withdrawn money even in the name of those who are dead. The scam is estimated to be of around Rs 6 crore, the farmers said.

Kailash Mangilal, one of the farmers from Manawar, accused that many cooperative society officials and employees took out a loan in the name of farmers. He said, “we lodged our complaints from local officials to the seniors sitting in the state capital, but could not get a satisfactory answer. When the society officials came to know that complaints had been lodged against them, they started threatening us with a false case.”

Laxman Muleva and Vijay Singh claimed that they never took any loans but have got recovery notices from society. They claimed that senior officials took no action when they brought this fact to their notice and raised an objection.

Vijay Singh added that some families in the village came to know that third persons have taken loans in names of dead persons when they received recovery notices. Farmers have demanded stern action against those who are involved in the scam.

Farmers accused Jagdish Taklecha, former manager of the society who died earlier for this corruption. But the colleagues who were involved in this corruption are roaming free and one of them is the current manager Manoj Hammad, farmers said. They raised questions about the administration’s inaction in the matter.

Meanwhile, when contacted Manoj Hammad to get his version on the matter, he tried to dodge the matter without answering the question and switched off his mobile. On the other hand, Manawar bank officer Mahesh Patidar was not available in the office.

When contacted local MLA Dr Heeralal Alawa said that those involved in the fraud won’t be spared, no matter how clever they are.

Dr Alawa extended his support to the farmers and demanded that the administration and government take cognizance of the farmer's complaints and resolve the matter after investigation.